EmbraceAbilities Community of Practice (CoP) Focused on Behavior Support (4 Day Event) 01/22/2025 - 05/14/2025 Event Dates: 01/22/2025 | 02/12/2025 | 03/12/2025 | 05/14/2025
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
The EmbraceAbilities Community of Practice (CoP) coaching sessions offer an engaging virtual platform where educators and administrators collaborate on enhancing inclusive practices for students with extensive support needs. Through expert-led sessions, participants will explore strategies for improving academic rigor, fostering inclusive mindsets, addressing specialized classroom needs, and building community partnerships. These sessions, scheduled monthly from January to May 2025, aim to empower educators with actionable insights to promote equity and student success in diverse learning environments.
Access to same-age general education peers, raising academic rigor, updating program schedules, and adopting a systemic approach create a more inclusive, challenging, and structured environment that better prepares students with extensive support needs for success in school and beyond.
Guiding Question: How can LEAs implement more structured and proactive protocols and procedures that are consistent regardless of who delivers the services?
The CoP Coaching session is lead by Christine Jackson, EmbraceAbilities Project Consultant and Dr. Yvonne Contreras-Wood, EmbraceAbilities Project Consultant.
After serving as a coordinator in the Division of Special Education, Christine Jackson retired from the Los Angeles County Office of Education and is now a consultant for the EmbraceAbilities statewide grant project. As an education specialist, Christine specialized in behavior support and working with students on the autism spectrum. More specifically, her work as a TOSA, program specialist, and Coordinator with the Los Angeles County Court and Charter SELPA, where she served as the CAPTAIN Implementation Lead, gives her a unique lens and expertise to support the EmbraceAbilities team. Christine holds a B.A. from CSU Los Angeles and an M.S. from the University of La Verne.
Yvonne Contreras-Wood, Ed.D., is the first in her extended family, with eight generations in Whittier, California, to attend college, earning degrees from Whittier College and the University of La Verne. Her career began in teaching, igniting a passion for supporting underserved students, which continued as she transitioned into educational leadership roles, including assistant superintendent and interim superintendent. At the Los Angeles County Office of Education, Yvonne directed leadership programs and supported 80 school districts serving 1.3 million students. Since retiring in 2020, she co-developed an online leadership academy for ACSA focused on equity for English Learners and continues to coach aspiring leaders. Yvonne enjoys reading, traveling, and cooking, sharing her life in Huntington Beach with her husband, Robert, their dog, Gracie, and their five grandchildren.
Event Details
Audience
COE and LEA administrators and educational leaders
Facilitator(s)
Marcia Reily Kristen Danhour Standke Jovan Jacobs
Partners
The California Department of Education (CDE); California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE); and The TIES Center.
